News Center – Kurdish history is rich with exceptional female models that did not receive their due mention, as they lived away from the spotlight despite their pioneering roles in establishing schools, educating generations, preserving culture and language, in addition to their contributions to journalism, founding organizations, and active political activity.

This legacy confirms that the history of Kurdish women goes beyond the borders of battles and armed resistance to extend to the fields of science and knowledge, organization, and creating hope. Despite the social and political siege that deprived them of education in the past, many women rose to pave the way for girls, and their roles varied between teaching, writing, and party work, before forgetfulness obscured many of those inspiring faces over time.

Nahida Sheikh Salam was born in 1922 in Sulaymaniyah, the eldest daughter of the poet and politician Sheikh Salam Sheikh Ahmed. She continued her early education in Sulaymaniyah and Halabja, and graduated from the Teachers' Institute in Baghdad in 1941. After that, she worked as a teacher and devoted her efforts to spreading reading and writing. Sources indicate that Nahida Sheikh Salam was the first woman to open a kindergarten in Sulaymaniyah city, and she used to chant national songs and poems in her lessons, bringing children closer to their culture.

Nahida Sheikh Salam's life was not limited to teaching, as she engaged in political work from a young age and joined the Hiwa Party, known as the (Party of Hope), in 1939. In subsequent years, she participated in many Kurdish political organizations and movements, and had a role in founding the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

In 1960, during the fifth conference of the party, she was elected as the first woman to join the Central Committee. At the same time, she was among the founders and leaders of the Kurdistan Women's Union. Due to her political activity, she was subjected to exile and forced migration repeatedly. She also engaged in social work through writing, publishing articles in Kurdish newspapers and magazines under pseudonyms such as (Keça Kurd), (N.S), and (Dayîka Roj).

Nahida Sheikh Salam died in Hawler on the twenty-eighth of November 2006 and was buried next to her father on Siwan Hill in Sulaymaniyah.